Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles

Here is my reader favorite recipe for soft and thick snickerdoodles. These soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies only require about 30 minutes start to finish!

Snickerdoodles are a timeless classic. Like a sugar cookie wrapped in a cinnamon sugar hug, these irresistible cookies never go out of style. My recipe yields the softest and thickest snickerdoodles you’ll ever taste. I like to call them snickerdoodle pillows because they are perfectly fat and puffy! Much too often you’re left with flat, crispy, and thin cookies. The only remedy is to submerge them in a tall glass of milk. But what about starting out with a kitchen tested recipe for soft-baked snickerdoodles? You’ve come to the right place. 🙂

How to Make Soft Snickerdoodles

How do you make snickerdoodles puffy and soft? The secret’s in the ratio of butter to leavener to flour to egg. Don’t use shortening here; you’ll miss the flavor of butter. Slightly under-baking the snickerdoodles also guarantees a softer cookie. Take them out of the oven after about 10-11 minutes. This will keep the interior of the cookie soft and chewy.

These snickerdoodle cookies aced the true “soft test” meaning they remained soft on day 2! In fact, they were still soft on day 4. (And I’m surprised there are any leftover by that point, but I was trying to make a point!) Since they remain so soft, snickerdoodles are the perfect cookie for gift-giving. I know there are many snickerdoodle lovers out there!

Why is Cream of Tartar in Snickerdoodles?

Instead of baking powder, use cream of tartar and baking soda in snickerdoodles. Sure, you could use 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of the cream of tartar + baking soda, but then you won’t really have a snickerdoodle. Cream of tartar adds a unique tangy flavor to the cookie, which sets it apart from sugar cookies and makes it a classic snickerdoodle. It’s absolutely delicious!

No Cookie Dough Chilling!

Great news! You can skip the cookie dough chilling step with this snickerdoodle recipe. There’s enough flour in this cookie dough to create a strong and sturdy cookie without the crutch of chilling the dough first. There’s also no fancy-pants ingredients required. These snickerdoodles are EASY.

Topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (always recommended for cookies). Set aside.

Make the topping: Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.

Make the cookies: Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough will be thick.

Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough each. I recommend this cookie scoop. Roll the dough balls in cinnamon-sugar topping. Sprinkle extra cinnamon-sugar on top if desired. Arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies will be very puffy and soft. When they are still very warm, lightly press down on them with the back of a spoon or fork to help flatten them out. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies remain soft & fresh for 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Make ahead tip: There are a few options here! First, you can prepare the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure that you let it come to room temperature before rolling and baking the cookies. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Roll the dough into balls then freeze the balls for up to 2-3 months. You can freeze the cookie dough balls with the cinnamon sugar coating or without, but I recommend freezing without the topping. When you are ready to bake, remove the balls from the freezer, let sit for 30 minutes, pre-heat the oven, then roll into topping. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Recipe Notes:

Cream of tartar is required for this recipe. Please see the text of the post for more information.

Post navigation

625 Comments

All Comments

Hi sally!! I LOVE this cookie recipe,it’s awesome if you need desserts in a time crunch.I’m making a few other types of cookies of yours for an event this weekend.Anyways,I was wondering if chilling this cookie dough will effect the final product?
Thanks for your input!!
Have a good day!

Kara, I don’t know if this is the problem or not, but I have found the differences in cookie outcomes to be greatly influenced by which type of flour you use. For cookies I always use regular bleached all-purpose. Unbleached changes the texture. I use unbleached for breads if not specifically told to use bread flour.

Also, in the years past our mothers and grandmothers had to sift flour. Unless specifically stated in a recipe I do not spoon and level into my measuring cups. I give the bucket of flour a stir, then scoop and level. That’s why some recipes give their measurements in ounces or grams when the recipe must have exact amounts to come out right because the way one measures can greatly change the volume of flour which changes the weight.

If your oven is set, for example, to 350° but is really only baking at 325 it gives the cookies more time to spread before the outside gets baked enough to help the cookie keep it shape. My old oven had to have a thermometer placed inside. I’d check and see that it was too low at 325 and bump it up by 25 degrees only to return to check it and see it had gone down to 300! Thankfully, that oven is buried and a new one thrives in my kitchen.

Hi Sally!! I made these cookies and they were SO yummy! They came out of the oven so thick and beautiful, and then they flattened out like a pancake. No problem with spreading. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! My cookies aaaalways do this, no matter the recipe. Help please!! <3

Super recipe! So far I only made the dough & plan to freeze in balls (to bake later for Christmas – thanks or the wonderful, time-saving tips!), but I baked 3 cookies to make sure they were worth it. They were delicious & looked just like the picture! I also took your advice to sprinkle a little more cinnamon-sugar on top after rolling & they looked very nice! I’d rather have these snickerdoodles than the ones from Panera! Thanks…this will be a new holiday favorite!

Would y’all suggest adding a second egg if the dough seems a little dry/powdery like Krista is saying. I am having the same problem. I used the largest egg I could find. Should I add an egg or start over?

Love this recipe! I have made it so many times, but the last time I made it there seemed to be a problem. My cookie batter was super sticky and I’m not quite sure why. What could have caused that to happen? I made it the same way as previous times.

I found my dough was a bit dry, maybe use 2 eggs instead of one? Also, mine were almost burnt so next time I will cook at 350 for 10 minutes (new oven). They turned out perfectly otherwise! Light and fluffy and didn’t fall flat. I would check the expiration date on the baking soda if other people’s cookies are going flat.

Hi Sally,
I love your recipes! I haven’t tried this snickerdoode recipe yet, but I am making them in the morning. I noticed you use only granulated sugar in this recipe, while many of your cookie recipes call for brown sugar also. Do you prefer these with only granulated sugar?
Thanks!

Not sure where all the complaints are coming from! This is a super simple, and incredibly delicious recipe. I actually ended up halfing this recipe, and making it vegan by using a flax egg and vegan butter. These are incredible, and only took about half an hour from start to finish. My non-vegan bf and mother-in-law, loved these and ate about 3 each. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Sally. I love this recipe and have made it many times. I haven’t yet tried to pre-bake, then freeze the cookies…they are so great, that freezing never had a chance to happen! Can you tell me if this cookie will be just as delicious if frozen? Thank you…and I love your pups!! They are beautiful.

I’m eating one of these cookies as I type–so good! I couldn’t let them cool, I had to go for it. So soft and perfect. 11 minutes on the dot for my oven. I scooped out 2 tablespoons worth for the balls, so my cookies look thinner/bigger than your pictures. I plan on making them the same way in the future. First time making snickerdoodles, I knew I could trust your recipe since I love many of your others! Thanks!

I made these with almond extract instead of vanilla (same amount), because I was trying to conserve my vanilla for other baking. They taste incredible! I will try the recipe again as written, but the almond version will have to stay as well! Thank you for all of your great recipes; I am slowly making my way through the many I want to devour!

Hi Sally!
I have using this recipe for YEARS! I love Thisbe cookie so much but this year the batter was too dry and crumbly. I see some readers suggest maybe adding an extra egg.
Maybe I scooped too much flour and next time I’ll definitely spoon but I don’t want to toss all the batte without trying to fix it.
Any suggestions before I start all over?

I was looking for a recipe that would produce a cookie that would work for Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies. These were perfect. They are definitely soft and thick! I think there was too much cinnamon in the cookie. Next time, I will probably leave it out. I will be making them again though. Thank you for the recipe!

Hi Sally. Just made these, and I may have tested a few two many, as I may be too full for dinner. They are delish!! I wouldn’t change a single ingredient. However, make sure in your printed version it suggests 10 to 11 minutes (like on the blog), instead of 11-12. My first batch was not as moist and fluffy, but my second and third were perfect. I made them slightly smaller and ended up with almost 3 dozen. So, I’ll probably take them out even sooner next time. There will be a next time!!

I made these and the dough was soooooooo dry I had trouble rolling it (wouldn’t hold together). I had to put them in the fridge for a day (Holiday logistics, you know), and then baked them this morning. I find you can really taste the cream of tartar. There’s a slight bitterness to them that surprised the heck out of me… but then these were my first ever snickerdoodles, so maybe it’s just me? Thank you for the amazing recipes though, the Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies turned out AMAZING.

Awesome awesome AWWWWWESOME recipe! This is the only snickerdoodle recipe I use, so when I wanted to make eggnog snickerdoodles for Christmas cookie tins, I still used this one and tweaked it a bit. Instead of 2.5 teaspoons of cinnamon I did 1.5 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp nutmeg. And in place of 2 teaspoons of vanilla I did 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp RUM. That’s it. The end result? I HAD NO COOKIES TO PUT IN MY TINS. I ate them. All. #noshame

Thanks, Sally, for a SPECTACULAR SNICKERDOODLE recipe. Little pillows of perfection, that’s what I call ’em!

PS: If you decide to make an eggnog snickerdoodle yourself, might I suggest the name… EGGNOODLE? I’m sure everyone in the world would click on the recipe for that cookie! Ha!

This was my first time making snickerdoodles and there were sooooo many websites that had their own version of how to make them but I decided to give your method a try and they turned out PERFECTLY! I only made half a batch to see if the recipe would work but I still used one (small) egg and my family absolutely loved them. I’m currently in the midst of making a second lot and will be coming back to this recipe, time and time again, for the perfect cookie!! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

Sally,
I made the snickerdoodle cookies for my little girls and they loved them! I have to say I absolutely loved them too. They taste just like my mom used to make when I was a kid. You deff don’t want to leave out the cream of tarter* cuz it is what makes them great.
Thank you again for the recipe. I will be making them again.
Nichole

Burned the bottoms. Tried several different batches and still. What am I doing wrong? How do I NOT get the bottoms burnt? I used parchment w/wo spray. The sprinkled cinnamon sugar turns black …whats my next step? The rest of the cookie is fine and delicious but I cant get rid of the burnt rings on the bottom…

My Cookbooks

@sallysbakeblog

About Sally

Welcome to my Kitchen!

I’m Sally, a cookbook author, photographer, and blogger. My goal is to give you the confidence and knowledge to cook and bake from scratch while providing quality recipes and plenty of pictures. Grab a cookie, take a seat, and have fun exploring! more about Sally